Brooklyn's Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD)

By Hetty McKinnon| 2 years ago

Museum of Food and Drink

Hetty McKinnon takes us for a wander through the museum of food

As you enter Brooklyn’s Museum of Food and Drink’s (MOFAD) debut show Flavor: Making It and Faking It, we are asked the question: "what makes your favourite food so delicious?" The answer is rather sobering: chemicals.

Housed in a cavernous industrial space in Brooklyn’s hipster Greenpoint, MOFAD is a complete culinary experience. You are encouraged to touch, smell and taste the exhibits. This show explores the birth of the $25 billion "flavour industry", starting from the nineteenth century discovery of how to replicate the flavour of vanilla in the lab, and the later finding that a chemical in seaweed produces the unique taste we now commonly know as umami, which means deliciousness.

MOFAD’s exploration of the creation of flavour is a provocative one. Throughout the space, there are "smell machines" which deconstruct the different scents that go into making one flavour, showing us exactly how complex flavour can be. Take coffee, for example. The coffee smell machine has two buttons. One is labelled "coffee", which emits a scent that is definitely coffee, but without the pep that I expect from my morning cup. The second button is curiously labelled "skunk" and the unpleasant smell is that of sulfur, the chemical usually used in skunk spray. Bring the two smells together, and the resulting scent is quite miraculous – the intoxicating aroma of freshly ground coffee beans.

Today, on our supermarket aisles, the line between "natural" and "synthetic" flavours is blurred. What we think is natural can be quite deceiving. For example, citral is the chemical that makes lemons taste like lemons. According to Food and Drug Act (FDA) regulations here in the United States, lemon does not need to come from lemons to be labelled natural, as artificial citral is chemically identical to natural citral. Knowledge like this certainly gives the consumer, and the eater, plenty to think about.

At this point in history, where food has become such a pivotal part of popular culture, it feels timely to explore the questions that MOFAD poses relating to the culture, history, science, production and commerce of food and drink. It is fascinating to see food presented within an anthropological framework that addresses the myriad of issues facing the culinary world of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Spaces like MOFAD will inspire a generation of informed eaters who will ultimately make better food choices for our bodies, health, community and environment. For a young country like Australia, perhaps our own MOFAD would enable Australians to participate, connect and, most importantly, preserve the rich food traditions and multicultural history that is so uniquely ours.